Posts Tagged ‘hunter valley gardens’

Posted on: May 29th, 2012 by Paul No Comments

Another fabulous and unique festival which will take place in the Hunter Valley is the Lawler Partners Winery running festival in which visitors get a unique opportunity to cover beautiful places and prominent valley landmarks by running through them literally.

This unique running festival gives visitors a chance to run through beautiful gardens, vineyards, wineries, golf resorts and famous wineries of the hunter region. The entire experience of running through these beautiful locations is awesome and relieving.

hunter-valley-gardens-logo

At the festival, visitors can participate in any racing format in which they are comfortable in. The festival have racing formats like the friendly race crew, full marathon, half marathon, 5 and 10 kilometer race for the adults and a short 2 kilometer race for the kids.

The running festival is managed and organized by Paul and Hanne Humphreys of the H Events who have been overlooking the arrangements of this festival for several years. The concept of the festival was derived from a similar event which takes place in France every year.

It is because of the strong determination of the Humphreys, that the race has able to achieve so much in a short span of time. Both of them have in the past organized numerous races for charitable and commercial reasons. They both have now devoted themselves in organizing different kinds of races in the valley region.

The festival will be held on 22nd July 2012 and the organizers are hoping that the show will attract a lot more participants as compared to the previous years. There would be around seven running formats all of which would be organized in the valley region only. Besides running, tourists can also enjoy local delicacies and relax in the calm and soothing environment of the valley.

The race would start in the morning at 7: 00 AM local time. All the formats of the race would start at different time and visitors can seek race timings of a particular format from the support staff or from their official website of the festival. The race would start from Hunter Valley Gardens Broke Road, Pokolbin.

Besides the race, lots of other events will also be organized at the festival. The Pasta Party is one such event which will be organized on 21st July for charitable reasons. The pasta party is a great place for people to meet and interact with fellow runners. The party would be held at the Mercure Resort which is quite near to the racing venue. Interested participants must book their tickets as there are limited seats only.

Participants can collect their racing kits one day before the race that is one 21st July from 12 – 5 PM. The kits are available at the Oval which is next to the Hunter Valley gardens. Kits can also be collected on 22nd; race participants must collect their racing kits at least 40 minutes before the race starting time.

 

RACE TIMES:

  • Lawler Partners Winery Marathon 7.00am Start
  • Winery Half Marathon and 2 person Marathon Teams – 7.30am Start
  • Winery 10km Run and 4 person Marathon Teams – 9.30am Start
  • Pacific Smiles Dental Kids Marathon final 2.195km leg – 10.40am Start
  • Pacific Smiles Dental Storybook 2K – open to all runners – 10.40am Start
  • 6.25km Winery Wander – 11.00am Start

The organizers have tried their best to use latest technology in order to keep the race clean. The organizers have employed the world famous IPICO computer chip timing system which would be provided by Blitz Sports. Participants are required to attach the computer chip on their shoe lace in order to record their race timings.

The number of participants who can take part in this race is 3500 and apart from the participants there would also be lot of spectators who would visit in order to enjoy the valley and the race. It is therefore recommended that tourists book their Hunter valley accommodation well in advance in order to enjoy the race with a free mind.

Besides the race, Pokolbin has plenty of things which are wonderful and worth visiting. Other nearby towns of Singleton and Wollombi are also worth visiting.

Posted on: November 21st, 2011 by Paul No Comments

Just a reminder to let you know that while you are in the Hunter Valley, one amazing place that you should take a look at is the Hunter Valley Gardens. It is simply massive and will allow you to experience the beauty of gardens from around the world.

During the lead up to Christmas there is a great display of Christmas lights to view from 6:30 to 10pm. Over a million lights are on display throughout designated areas of the Hunter Valley Gardens

Take a look at their website for more information

Posted on: September 20th, 2011 by Paul No Comments

Enjoy an day out in the vineyards making a range of designer cards while enjoying morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea at Taste of the Country Cafe in Hunter Valley Gardens Village. An experienced Stamping Up consultant will provide you with various card making kits to complete all the cards during the days activities. Have a great time meeting other crafty ladies and meeting like minded people. Starting at 10.00am on Wednesday 21 September 2011 – the day finishes at 5pm. The cost is $50.00 each all inclusive. The theme for the cards this month is Spring Floral. See the attached booking form for upcoming dates.

Read more at Hunter Valley Gardens Website

Posted on: May 11th, 2011 by Paul No Comments

When in the Hunter Valley it was a must to go and check out the Blue Tongue Brewery. Located in Warnervale,  not far from the Hunter Valley Gardens, it was a convenient place to grab a beer and check out the place. The $120 Million establishment is quite modern and is amazing to look at when you turn up.

blue-tongue-brewery

blue-tongue-brewery

When we walked in the first thing I noticed was a lot of people were walking around with a paddle filled with many small glasses of beer. The first thing that you think when you see this is “I’m trying that”. So we’ve walked into the brewery and ordered up some tasting paddles. They were reasonably priced, and if you bring back your paddle, you are given a full sized glass of beer.

Beer Paddle Blue Tongue Brewery

Beer Paddle Blue Tongue Brewery

The beers were very tasty and refreshing. It was a bit unfortunate they were out of the ginger beer, however things like this can be expected during an Easter long weekend.

The Blue Tongue Brewery also had some delicious pies which had some unique flavors. There was a good range of snacks for people to choose from and the children enjoyed a bowl of wedges and played on the lovely grassed area happily. If you wanted a more formal meal the restaurant that they have will be able to provide this for you, however we didn’t have the chance to do this at the time though.

My tip – definately worth a visit while your in the Hunter Valley. It’s not all about wine you know. 🙂

Posted on: May 5th, 2011 by Paul No Comments

Whilst we were recently on our tour of the Hunter Valley, we were told that the Hunter Valley Gardens were certainly worth visiting especially with the children.

hunter valley gardens

There is a lot to see in the Hunter Valley Gardens however you should be prepared for a lot of walking. Certainly don’t go there with tired children.

There is an amazing Oriental garden, which was simply breathtaking, and the fish that swam around were very bright colours, and the kids loved them.

hunter-valley-gardens

The highlight of the day for our children was certainly the story book gardens. There were many different story books along the way, and plants in the shapes of animals. On the day we were there, there was a bouncy castle, painting and we also had time to relax and have a slushy. yum!

jack storybook hunter valley gardens

storybook hunter valley gardens

storybook wall hunter valley gardens

storybook wall hunter valley gardens

All in all though a great day was had by us and the other family that we went with. One the way back we dropped in to the Blue Tongue brewery which was also a great place to go

Posted on: April 28th, 2011 by Paul No Comments

We spent just under a week in the Hunter Valley, last week leading up to and including Easter. One Word …….. Fantastic.
The place is simply amazing, with the beautiful nature of the place really showing throughout the entire area.

blue-tongue-brewery

blue-tongue-brewery

potters-brewery

potters brewery

Most areas are easy to drive around, except for a couple of roads which could do with some work. I think they may have been washed away or something, because they seemed to be upgrading them anyway.

One thing that was the most obvious thing to me that makes the Hunter Valley stand out, is the amazing wineries. They are more than just that, they are like mini hubs.

You have a good mixture of small boutique wineries and massive wineries which have other great shops built on to them.

We visited a couple of breweries also which were a great change, and were very hospitable too. Potters brewery and Bluetongue Brewery both had their special charms, which we loved.

The chocolate and cheese shops were also great to visit and a trip to Hunter Valley Gardens was also very special.
hunter valley gardenshunter-valley-gardens

The mines in the area are massive, but I found it quite amazing that they did not detract from the natural beauty of the area, as most are not easily seen, and can’t be seen in the winery areas at all. These are worth looking at anyway, as it is quite amazing how they operate.

All in all it was a great trip to the Hunter Valley, and we will be going back as soon as we can.

Also I will be writing more blog posts in greater detail, to highlight all the wonderful things that we saw while we were there.